It has been related by Mohammad b. Hanafi; “One day, when we were with Hazrat Ali (ra) someone asked him about Hazrat Mahdi. Ali said “Alas!” and made a sign of nine with his hand, and then he said “He will appear in the End Times, when people are told “Have fear of God, have fear of God!” So what does this mean? It means that Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) will appear when there is no fear of God in the world, when there is no belief in God, at a time when Darwinism and materialism wreaked havoc on the world. (And he continued as follows):

Just like clouds accumulate in the skies, God will gather a community around him. What do the clouds do? For instance, one comes and unite with the other cloud and becomes a giant cumulus cloud and then comes Hazrat Ali (ra) who likens this to the system of the Mahdi, as per the information transferred to him by our Prophet (saas). He reconciles their hearts. So they love one another, they become friends. Normally, people cannot easily become friends anywhere in the world. Even in communities, in organizations, hearts do not reconcile that easily. They do not feel sorry for those who are martyred among them. That means there will be those among them who will be martyred. And they do not rejoice over those who join them. That is because God is the One Who sends those people to them, so in that sense, they do not feel proud about their joining.

Naim bin Hammad related from Kab and ordained; as told in Katade, Mahdi will be the most auspicious one among the people in his time. “His helpers and those who pledge allegiance to him…” His students and those who support him; “… will be among the saints of Kufa, Yemen and Damascus.” What is meant by Damascus? Actually, Istanbul is the place meant here. In all the statements related to the End Times, the center of the Islamic world has been taken into consideration. These are all places that have been accepted as capitals of the Islamic world; Kufa, Damascus, Medina. When we hear of these, we are to know that these are the centers of the Islamic world. With the use of the world “saints” the select people, people with the character of Saints are meant.

“God dissolves blind dissensions by means of the Mahdi.” Hazrat Mahdi puts away the blind dissensions like Muslims falling out with each other, wars, conflicts, Muslims who set their hearts on the same cause picking on each other. This is his characteristic. God makes him instrumental in that. “Everywhere becomes secure.” There will be no wars, no anarchy, and no terror anywhere in the world. Everywhere becomes secure. Being secure covers security in every aspect; safety of life, contentment of heart, everywhere being clean, well-kept and secure. For instance, if there is a building that is about to collapse, he will repair it and make it safe. Everywhere will be safe and sound; people will be safe and sound . For instance, there will not be a poisonous animal, a poisonous bug. All precautions are taken accordingly. That is what is meant by secure. For instance, now there are holes on the road children could fall in; the roads are not safe. Or there are wooden beams falling on people from the construction sites. These are not secure places. Why not? Because precautions are not taken, they don’t use their heads. At the time of Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) all sorts of precautions would be taken. All precautions will be taken in every matter.

In his commentary Ibn Meduyya related the hadith from Ibn Abbas. He said ; “People of the Cave will be helpers of the Mahdi.” What does this mean? The hadith explains that Surat al-Kahf refers to Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh). I have said this before as well; for instance, the hadiths state that the story of Solomon also refers to Hazrat Mahdi and that the story of Dhul’Qarnayn, the story of Talut and Goliath refers to Hazrat Mahdi. Our Prophet says that the state of the people of Al-Badr, the strategy of struggle in that war, the difficult conditions of that period refer to the system of the Mahdi.

Ibn Hajari Mekki said: “There is no contrast in between the accounts that state the helpers of the Mahdi will come from the East and the accounts that state that they will come from Iraq, because it is clearly understood from many accounts that they will be from the people of Damascus.” What is meant here with the people of “Damascus” are actually the people of Istanbul. We are to understand that Istanbul is meant every time Damascus is mentioned. Actually the general description here fits Istanbul better; the capital of the Islamic world is meant here. What he means by “Damascus.” When we hear Basra, Kufa, Medina, Damascus we understand that the capitals of Islamic world is meant.

In his work named Favaid, Tamman and Ibn Asakir related from Abdullah b. Amr. “He commanded, “One of the sons of Hasan (ra) Mohammad Mahdi will appear from the East even if mountains stand in front of him.” That means there will be tricks, conspiracies, opponents that will stand in front of him like mountains; Darwinism, materialism being the leading ones. “He will crush them” with science and knowledge, “… and he will find a way in these mountains.” There is not one mountain, there are many mountains, and he finds his way among those mountains. He walks on them, walks around them. He plays with those mountains. Mountains lose their power. Mountains will remain weak and powerless in front of him.

Naim b. Hammad related from Hazrat Ali b. Abu Talib; He commanded; “Before the Mahdi, a person from the East from among the Ahl-al Bayt.” So that means some individuals will appear before Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) who will pave the way for him. The sayyids, sharifs will serve. For instance, this hadith might refer to the community of Menzil, to Mohammad Rashid Erol; that is because he has been instrumental in the guidance of millions of people and he gave the glad tidings of Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh).

“That scholar will aim for Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) but he will die before he reaches there.” He really could not go to Jerusalem. He wanted to go to Jerusalem but died before he reached there. Indeed that blessed person had been martyred.

Abu Davud related from Hazrat Ali (ra) and said that Our Prophet (saas) ordained; “A man will appear from the river. He will be called Harris. He will be a crusader. Before him there will be a man who will be called Mansur and just like Qurayshis helping the Messenger of God (saas), he will help the family of Mohammad as well. It is a necessary act for every Muslim to help him.” That means there will be many scholars, many people, and many blessed people before the Mahdi that will pave the way for the system of the Mahdi. For instance, his highness Suleyman Hilmi Tunahan, he is also a sayyid as you know. For instance, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi before everyone else. “A man appears from the river,” it says. “A man named Mansur.” May be Mansur, may be Harris, one of those is Bediuzzaman Said Nursi but a clear sign has not been given for either of them. Only for Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) very clear, hundreds of details have been given. I mean it is almost impossible not to recognize him. And there is also a crippled man who will be the contrast of the Mahdi and he can also be recognized more or less. Other than those, none of the other helpers can be identified. Apart from them, the dajjal (antichrist) has been explained in great details; Jesus Messiah (pbuh) has been explained in great detail as well and the moves that Jesus Messiah will make, the coded moves have been explained so that Jesus Messiah will be recognized from those.

Look, in many hadiths people are encouraged to look for the Mahdi “even in the snow”; that means the place Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) is living will be a region in which there will be snow. It is not a warm climate location.